Patents Examined by Krishnan Ramesh
  • Patent number: 9994315
    Abstract: Systems and methods for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in medical emergencies are disclosed herein. The systems and methods include receiving at a first UAV an indication of a medical emergency and coordinating with a second UAV based on the second UAV's capabilities. The first UAV determines if the capabilities of the second UAV complement the capabilities of the first UAV based on the indicated medical emergency. The disclosed systems and methods deploy both the first and second UAVs to the medical emergency if the capabilities of the second UAV complement those of the first UAV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Physio-Control, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert G. Walker, Mitchell Smith, Kristina Furlan, John Daynes, Michael Arbuck, Alex Esibov, Melissa Pochop-Miller, Dennis Skelton
  • Patent number: 9989970
    Abstract: Robotic vehicles and methods described herein relate to robot navigation, physical configuration, and obstacle avoidance. An example robotic vehicle includes a chassis and a sensor coupled to the chassis. Furthermore, the robotic vehicle includes a plurality of multi-wheels coupled to the chassis. As such, each multi-wheel is configured to rotate about a primary axis of rotation. Each multi-wheel includes a plurality of rotatable wheel elements and each rotatable wheel element is configured to rotate about a respective secondary axis of rotation. The robotic vehicle includes an actuator configured to extend or retract at least one rotatable wheel element such that a position of at least one rotatable wheel element is adjustable relative to the primary axis of rotation. Yet further, the robotic vehicle includes a motor configured to drive the rotatable wheel elements about their respective secondary axes of rotation and drive the respective multi-wheels about their primary axes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: X Development LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Morey, Adam Horton, David Youmans
  • Patent number: 9983008
    Abstract: A navigation system as described herein comprises a processing resource configured to receive destination data representative of a destination, to determine an expected travel time to the destination, and to determine a departure time in dependence upon the expected travel time to the destination, and an output device for providing the departure time to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: TOMTOM NAVIGATION B.V.
    Inventors: Rob Schuurbiers, Bob Arnold Soeters
  • Patent number: 9969404
    Abstract: A computing system for a vehicle includes one or more processors for controlling operation of the computing system, and a memory for storing data and program instructions usable by the one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to determine required driver behaviors, determine a persistent sound indicative of the required driver behaviors, and generate a notification including the sound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventor: John-Michael McNew
  • Patent number: 9965955
    Abstract: To improve traveling safety of a vehicle by continuing an alarm after the end of a crash prevention control for preventing a crash between an own vehicle and a target object, a drive support apparatus of the invention detects the target object which exists in a predetermined detection area ahead of the own vehicle, starts to issue an alarm with an alarm generating part to a driver of the own vehicle if probability of a crash between the own vehicle and the target object is greater than a predetermined value, start a crash prevention control in which an automatic driving operation is performed for preventing the crash with the target object, and continues to issue the alarm until a predetermined timing (timing when the driver of the own vehicle performs a predetermined driving operation, for example) after the crash prevention control by the crash prevention controlling part has been ended.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Ryo Fujishiro
  • Patent number: 9958865
    Abstract: An autonomous driving system for a vehicle is provided. The system includes a location unit configured to determine a current location of the vehicle; a database storing mapping information; and a control unit coupled to the location unit and the database, the control unit configured to selectively generate autonomous driving commands for the current location in view of the mapping information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Nikhil L. Hoskeri, Curtis Hay
  • Patent number: 9950739
    Abstract: A vehicle circumference monitoring apparatus includes: an acquisition section that acquires a steering angle of front wheels of a vehicle; a trajectory calculation section that calculates a rear wheel width trajectory indicating a moving predicted path of a rear wheel of an inside of turning during turning of the vehicle by steering of the front wheels; and a display control section that superimpose-displays the rear wheel width trajectory in captured side image data output from an imaging section that captures side images of the vehicle when the steering angle of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuya Watanabe, Tetsuya Maruoka, Itsuko Ohashi
  • Patent number: 9946262
    Abstract: A vehicular gesture control system includes sensors such as IoT (internet of things) sensors that can share data with other vehicles and that can communicate with the cloud to provide intelligent handling of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Inventor: Arafat M.A. Ansari
  • Patent number: 9938008
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems and methods for providing reliable control of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A system for providing reliable control of the UAV can include a computing device that can execute reliable and unreliable programs. The unreliable programs can be isolated from the reliable programs by virtue of executing one or more of the programs in a virtual machine client. The UAV can initiate a recovery action when one or more of the unreliable programs fail. The recovery action can be performed without input from one or more of the unreliable programs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: Kespry Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin Stuart Stabler, Robert Parker Clark, Nathaniel Hall-Snyder, Paul Doersch
  • Patent number: 9937926
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and a system for adaptation of a vehicle's performance. This system comprises a receiving device arranged to receive a request that a driver of the vehicle wishes to use a temporary performance mode. The system also comprises a first initiation device arranged to initiate a use of a preparation mode based on the driver's request, where the vehicle, during such preparation mode, prepares the vehicle to use an increased fraction of the power, generated by the engine in the vehicle, for the propulsion of the vehicle. The system also comprises a second initiation device arranged to initiate a use of the temporary performance mode, wherein such temporary performance mode uses the increased fraction of the power generated, released by the preparation mode, to provide a temporary performance boost for at least one feature relating to the propulsion of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: Scania CV AB
    Inventor: Björn Johansson
  • Patent number: 9921065
    Abstract: A unit for improving positioning accuracy of an autonomous vehicle driving on a road includes a first computation unit configured to compute a first position of the vehicle at a time T1 using data from at least an inertial measurement unit (IMU); a second computation unit configured to compute a second position of the vehicle at the time T1 using data from at least one external sensor and a map; a comparison unit configured to compute a position difference between the computed first and second positions; a correction unit configured to correct an error parameter of the IMU, wherein the error parameter is used for correcting a third position of the vehicle computed by the first computation unit at a time T2 with the computed position difference at time T1, if the second computation unit is unable to compute a fourth position of the vehicle at the time T2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventors: Mattias Erik Brannstrom, Joakim Lin Sorstedt, Peter Karlsson
  • Patent number: 9921582
    Abstract: An automated guided vehicle system may include a plurality of automated guided vehicles arranged in a predetermined relationship with respect to each other for supporting a payload. Each of the automated guided vehicles has a plurality of rollers extending from the automated guided vehicle and engaging a ground surface. Furthermore, at least one locator extends from the automated guided vehicle and engages the payload. Each of the automated guided vehicles also has an on-board controller arranged within a housing thereof, with one on-board controller acting as a master controller and the remaining of the on-board controllers acting as slave controllers. The master controller communicates with the slave controllers to maintain position and speed control of each automated guided vehicle in both a lateral and a longitudinal direction. Furthermore, the slave controllers send feedback information to the master controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Inventors: John P Spicer, Ningjian Huang, Greg Vanderheyden, James O'Dell
  • Patent number: 9922565
    Abstract: A method for fusing sensor information detected by a host vehicle and at least one remote vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication equipped vehicle includes collecting visual data from an optical sensor of a vision sub-system, and collecting V2V data from remote vehicles. The method further includes executing a control logic including a first control logic for generating a base lane model and a base confidence level, a second control logic that fuses together the V2V data, the base lane model, and the base confidence level, and a third control logic that generates from the fused lane model, the V2V data, the base lane model, and the base confidence level, a final lane model and final confidence level, and assigns a priority to the final lane model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: DURA OPERATING LLC
    Inventors: Gordon M. Thomas, Nizar Trigui, Michael Liubakka
  • Patent number: 9914624
    Abstract: Systems and methods for object guidance and collision avoidance are provided. One system includes a location sensor disposed on a movable crane. The system also includes a plurality of sensors disposed on a plurality of objects within a facility. The system further includes a controller having a receiver for monitoring signals transmitted from the location sensor disposed on a movable crane and the plurality of sensors disposed on a plurality of objects within the facility. The controller is configured to generate a travel path for the movable crane to move an object coupled with the movable crane based on the one or more intersection regions and generate an output signal to an alarm device to provide an alert, when at least one object of the plurality of objects is within a predetermined proximity of at least the object being moved by the crane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: Jonathan Fulton, Whitney Loubier, Shibin Mathew, Wei Mi, Andrew Pinion
  • Patent number: 9913564
    Abstract: Disclosed are a robot cleaner and a control method thereof. The control method includes determining by a controller a connection between a user terminal and the robot cleaner and allowing communication between the user terminal and the robot cleaner, receiving a signal regarding a tilt direction of the user terminal by a wireless communication unit and conforming by the controller a tilting of the user terminal, and driving by the controller the robot cleaner in accordance with the received signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventor: Minkyu Cho
  • Patent number: 9902401
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for determining a road profile along a predicted path. In one implementation, a system includes at least one image capture device configured to acquire a plurality of images of an area in a vicinity of a user vehicle; a data interface; and at least one processing device configured to receive the plurality of images captured by the image capture device through the data interface; and compute a profile of a road along one or more predicted paths of the user vehicle. At least one of the one or more predicted paths is predicted based on image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: MOBILEYE VISION TECHNOLOGIES LTD.
    Inventors: Gideon Stein, Itay Blumenthal, Nadav Shaag
  • Patent number: 9905062
    Abstract: The work machine includes a controller including a first storage unit capable of storing work machine information and capable of rewriting the stored work machine information, and a processing unit configured to collect the work machine information, and when trigger information for causing the first storage unit to start storing the work machine information occurs, the processing unit causes at least a portion of the collected work machine information to be stored to the first storage unit. The first storage unit stores header information. At a time when the trigger information occurs, the processing unit generates the work machine data from the collected work machine information in accordance with the header information and stores the work machine data to the first storage unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Fujimori, Shunsuke Sugimura
  • Patent number: 9884625
    Abstract: A vehicle traveling control device includes an acquisition unit that acquires surrounding information on the vehicle; an external situation determination unit that determines whether there is space, into which the vehicle will enter, in the adjacent lane based on the surrounding information on the vehicle; and a vehicle control unit that causes the vehicle to change the lane along a traveling trajectory predetermined to change the lane from the traveling lane to the adjacent lane. The vehicle control unit is configured to move the vehicle along the traveling trajectory and place the vehicle in a waiting state at a waiting position if the external situation determination unit determines that there is not the space, and is configured to move the vehicle from the waiting position to the space if the external situation determination unit determines that there is the space while the vehicle is placed in the waiting state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuya Taira, Yoshinori Watanabe
  • Patent number: 9878723
    Abstract: Systems and techniques are disclosed for switching a vehicle driving mode. A sensing unit senses a state of a driver of a vehicle configured to be driven automatically or manually. An intention detecting unit detects whether the driver intends to switch from an automatic driving mode to a manual driving mode based on the state of the driver. An operation detecting unit detects whether the driver is able to operate the vehicle in the manual driving mode based on the state of the driver. A driving state predicting unit predicts a driving state of the vehicle in the manual driving mode based on detecting that the driver is able to operate the vehicle in the manual driving mode. A control unit determines that the predicted driving state of the vehicle meets a preset condition and switches from the automatic to the manual driving mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Hyun Kim
  • Patent number: 9873395
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a smart key which periodically transmits identification information to an external device, a communication unit which receives information on a driver corresponding to the identification information generated by the smart key from the external device, and a control unit which displays information preset by the driver based on the information on the driver received from the communication unit or automatically controls devices in the vehicle pre-stored by the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Youngwoo Park, Hyunwoo Lee, Haeyoung Kwon, Minhyuk Oh